The exquisite, intricate beauty of a single ice crystal makes it possible for us to find God in snowflake designs.

Images are from SnowCrystals.com, taken by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, professor of physics at California Institute of Technology (CalTech) using a specially designed snowflake photomicroscope.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of snow this winter. A few piles of snow still adorn my yard, messy and dirty-looking.

When masses of cold, white stuff wait to be shoveled from our driveway or hampers our travels, it’s easy to forget something. One Sunday, as my husband and I drove to church, a few flakes were falling in the subfreezing temperatures. As I glanced out the passenger window, the morning sun lit up a single ice crystal stuck to the glass. The intricate pattern of that flake mesmerized me; I felt amazed to think how a pile of snow could be composed of thousands of these delicate crystals, each one unique in its own way.

When I got home, I went to a bookshelf and pulled down a Christmas gift from a dear friend in 2003. Sherry had given me a copy of The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty by Kenneth Libbrecht.

In the front my friend had written: “For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth’” (Job 37:6a NASB). Over lunch that day, we had talked about how God displays His incredible creativity through nature.

Opening the book once more, I gazed on the astonishing microscopic photographs of snowflakes in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes.

Besides the typically-pictured six-branched ice star, there were twelve-sided snowflakes (uncommon), fern-like stellar dendrites with numerous side-branches, crystals that had formed sectored plates on the ends of their arms, and the plainer needles and columns. I also read about the formation of clusters, half-stars, arrowhead crystals, and some split-plate crystals the author describes as “so odd-looking they almost defy explanation.”

Seeing the single ice crystal lit up by the sun that morning reminded me of the One who created it. It also reminded me that He has created each one of us to be unique in our own way. When He looks at the earth, God doesn’t see a mass of people; He sees individuals with their own distinct personalities, talents, and dreams. And He loves every single one.

Winter is a good time to find God in snowflake designs–and in your own complex design as well.